Skinning knife



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R. BLADES SKINNING KNIFE Febf26 1924.

f Filed April 12, 1922v ME f :DE 'f Patented Feb. 2G, i924.

anatre ROBERT BLADES, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SKINNING KNIFE.

Application filed April 12., 1922. Serial No. 551,926.

To all whom t mag/concern.'

Be it known that I, ROBERT BLADES, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of the city of Chicago, in county of Cook and 5 State ofIllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in aSkinning Knife; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the numerals of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates toa knife such as is used in removing theA skinfrom the carcass in butchering operations.

lt is an obj ect of this invention to provide a knife with a continuoussupply of water or air under pressure.

It is a further object of this invention to supply the Huid underpressure along the whole edge of the knife. Y

It is a further object of this invention to provide a knife with meansfor supplying- Water or air under pressure along the whole cutting edgewithout materially changing the shape of the tool fro-mthat with whichVthe workman is already familiar.

It is a further object of this invention to provide means forpositioning a knife blade within a housing so that the edge of the bladeshall project from the housing.

It is a further object of this invention to provide convenient means foradjusting the blade as the knife edge is worn away.

It is a further object of this invention to vprovide means forconveniently controlling the flow of fluid to the knife.

Other and further important objects of the invention will be apparentfrom the disclosures in the drawing andspecification. The invention (ina preferred form) is shown on the drawings and hereinafter more fullydescribed.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side view of aknife with the invention applied thereto. v

Figure 2 is a view' of the back edge thereof. j

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section. Y Figure 4 is a section on the line4-.-4 of Fi re 3.

' igure 5 is a section on the line 5--5 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is an enlarged view of the portion of Figure 5 showing thecutting edge. 55

Figure 7 is a section upon the line 7 7 of Figure 3.

Figure 8 is a longitudinal section showing a modification.

Figure 9 is a section upon the line 9 9 of Figure 8. V i

As shown on the drawings:

Theknife blade l has a cutting edge 2 which projects from a housing Thishousing is of a general U-shape in cross section, extends the wholelength of the blade, and merges into a handle port-ion 4. Along theblade the sides of the housing come nearly to the cutting edge 2. Forthe greater part of their width the sides are nearly parallel but towardthe cutting edge they converge as shown at 4 so that they leave a verynarrow slot 5 between the edges 30 of the sides and the knife blade.Pret erably the taper shown at 4 is very gradual and merges verygradually with the parallel portions of the side walls of the housing.

The interior surface 0f these walls is approximately parallel to theexterior surface until the slot 5 is reached, and then beginning fromthe points 6 the interior surface of each wall constitutes an edge 30 ofthe wall and forms one side of the slot 5 between the wall and the bladeand is parallel to the blade. The edges 30 of the side walls extendingfrom the points 6 to the ends of the slots 5 define a slot in thehousing which is somewhat wider than the thickness of the blade so thatwhen the blade is maintained in the center of this slot two narrow slots5 result. In order to thus position the blade l, lugs are provided asshown at 6, 7 and 8 in Figure 3. At each of these three places thereis apair of lugs, one lug against each side wall of the housing, as isillustrated in Figure 4 by the lugs 8 and 8.

The knife is provided with a pair of openings or slots l0 and 1ladjacent the lugs 7 and 8, and screws l2 are provided to go throughthese slots or holes into the lugs and so hold the knife blade in place.For the reception of these screws one side wall of the casing or housingis recessed as shown at 3l to receive the head of the screw, and theother side wall is provided with a threaded hole 32 to receive the otherend of the screw as shown in Figure 4.

For the reception of the screw in the lugs the ends of the lugs nearestthe screw are made larger, but the ends'of the lugs toward the cuttingedge of the knife are reduced to mere points, as may be seen at 7 and 8in Figure 3. rlhus the butt ends of the lugs afford an ample bearingsurface against the sides of the knife, but the front or pointed ends ofthem are small enough to offer no substantial obstacle to the flow ofliquid or air. Y Y

The lug 6 coming at the very end of the knife will not materiallyinterfere with the flow of fluid to its edge. Therefore, this lug ismade of any desired shape and need not be pointed. As illustrated, thelug is made to taper to the end of the casing so that it is possible forwater to flow clear to the very end of the knife edge 2. The end of theblade toward the handle 4L- fits into notch 13 having a tapering depth,the sides of which afford an additional bearing for the blade. Thus theblade is supported at four points on each face.

A conduit 14 extends through the handle l of the tool and is threadedfor the reception of a. nipple 15 on the'end of a pipe, which, in orderthat the knife may be readily manipulatedin its use, is preferably aflexible hose.

In the form illustrated in Figure 3, the

flow through the hose 16 and conduit 14 into the housing 3 will becontrolled at any desired point, for example, by a valve controlled bythe workmans foot.

Y In the form shown in Figure 8, a handle 17 is provided for operationby the workmans thumb, and it is placed adjacent the junction of thecasing 3 with the handle 11 in order that it may be conveniently locatedfor such manipulation. This handleis at one end of a lever 18 pivoted at19 in a recess 2O formed for its reception in the handle Ll. The otherend of the lever 19 has a pin and slot connection as shown at 21 with aslide valve 22, which, in the position illustrated in Figure 8, closesthe passage 14;'

but in the position it will assume when the handle 17 is pressed, theopening in the slide valve will come opposite the passage 14. and leaveit free for the passage of water or air.. The spring V23 located underthe handle 17 serves to return the valve to closed position when thepressure on the handle is removed. j

In assembling the device, the blade 1 is passed through the slotsbetween the edges 6 of the housing 3 and is guided into position by thelugs 6, 7, and 8, and the slot 13. The beveled bottom of the slot 13 andthe curved end of the housing adjacent the lug 6 serverto quickly' bringthe blade to the correct position with the holes 10 and 11 opposite theholes for the screws 12. These screws are next inserted. The blade isthen i/ieaeie the casingV and screwed into place, the nippleV 15 servingto Vconnect the hoseV and the casing. The other end ofthe hose is thenconnected to a. supply of water or Ofcompressed air and the tool isready for use.

In the use of the tool, the cutting edge 2 acts to sever the tissuesconnecting the skin with the carcass, and the flow of water orcompressed air'through thel slots serves to lift the skin awayv from theflesh so vthat the operator can rapidly and easily separate the skinfrom the flesh without being obliged to stop to pull the skin away ashecuts. The Vworkman is also `relieved from the necessity of stopping toplunge Vhis knife ThefU-shaped character of the Y in water occasionallyas was 'the old'. practice. The flow of water will also keepthe knifefree from blood or dirt that might interfere with the accuracy andrapidity of the workmans operations.V

I am aware that numerous details of con-V struction may be variedthrough a wide range without departing from the principles of thisinvention, and I therefore doY notV purpose limiting the patent. grantedotherwise than necessitated by'` the prior art. I claim as my invention:

1. A knife, a casing surrounding said knife andhaving a slot throughwhich the cutting edge of the `knife projects, and a connection throughwhich 'fluid may be supplied to said easing. f

2. In combination, a'blade, a'casing surrounding the back of said bladeandextending over each face nearly to the cutting edge, the walls ofsaid casing being spaced away from the blade, said space being less atthe edges of the'walls than .evermost of the sides of the knife wherebya slot is provided between the blade and .the casing on each side of thecutting edge of the knife and near said edge, lugs on said wallscon-`,tact saidY blade to maintain 'it in position with' its cutting edgeout o-f. Contact rwith the edges of the walls ofthefcasing, said bladehaving holes adjacent said lugs, and fastening means passing throughsaid Yholes into said lugs and holding said blade in said casing, ahandle for said casing, and aconduit through saidhandle into said'casing3. A' blade, Va. casing therefor, lugs on said casing positioning saidblade between the sidesof the casing, said'blade having elongated holestherein, fastening means holes whereby the position of the blade can beadjusted Within the plane determined by said lugs.

4. A. blade, means for supplying fluid to the cutting edge thereof, saidmeans including a casingsurrounding the back of the blade, lugs on saidcasing contacting the blade, the part. of the lugs toward the cuttingedge beingnarrowed to a point.

5. A knife, a casing surrounding said knife and having a slot throughwhich the cutting edge of the knife projects, means for supplying Huidto said casing, and a manual valve controlling said means.

6. In a Skinningtool, a knife, a. casing surrounding said knife andhaving a slot through which the cutting edge of the knife projects and acoupling for connecting said casing to a source of Huid supply.

7. In combination a hose, a knife, a casing covering said knife and acoupling connecting said casing and hos-e and constituting a handle forsaid knife.

8. In a Skinning tool, a hose, a tubular handle, a knife secured to saidhandle, a casing covering said knife, said hose being connected to oneend of said handle and said casing to the other end whereby the tube ofthe handle leads fluid from Said hose to said casing.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presenceof two subscribing Witnesses.

ROBERT BLADES.

Witnesses:

CARLTON HILL, JAMES M. OBRIEN.

